Team Communication Patterns Research Articles

Teamwork in a Multicultural Context: The Driver of Creativity

This paper deeply explores the complex and dynamic relationship between team creativity and cultural factors and reveals how subtle cultural differences can play a dual role in shaping team creativity. Central to the study is an in-depth analysis of interactions between team members from different cultural backgrounds and how these interactions significantly influence the collective output of the team's creation. This detailed review of the extensive literature illustrates the important impact of team diversity, communication patterns, and leadership style on the profile shaping of team creativity. The center of the discussion is the dual nature of the organizational culture: it has both the potential to stimulate creativity within the team and the potential to inhibit it. Research shows that while cultural diversity brings unique perspectives and ideas that create mature environments for innovative thinking, it also presents significant challenges, including communication barriers and the generation of possible misunderstandings. Without skilled management, these problems can hamper the flow of ideas. Furthermore, this paper highlights the importance of fostering leadership styles and communication strategies for an open and supportive environment critical to thriving team creativity. In the text section, I integrate these findings into practical, actionable strategies that provide some feasible suggestions for organizations seeking to improve innovation. These strategies are deeply embedded in an understanding of cultural dynamics and aim to reform organizational practices to add some possibilities for us to achieve greater innovation and success in an increasingly diverse business world.

Team usability testing: development and validation of a groupware usability evaluation method

As virtual teamwork became widespread, the importance of the usability of groupware has increased, as groupware must have high usability in order to properly support teamwork. Several studies have focused on the usability evaluation of groupware, yet, both in terms of science and practice, there is a lack of a method that, like existing empirical single-user methods, can be routinely applied in software development practice. The new Team Usability Testing method differs from previous methods in that it is an empirical method for evaluating synchronous (real-time) collaborative software that explores the team usability problems with the help of real or potential users. The method consists of questionnaires, screen recording videos and group interviews, and the framework of data processing is based on the theory of the mechanics of collaboration. In the four steps of the development of the method, empirical studies under laboratory conditions and real working conditions, and then, for validation purposes, analytical, heuristic evaluation with the involvement of usability experts were performed. During the development and the application of the method, the communication patterns of different teams were examined in terms of their relationship to software usability. In this paper we present the results of the second laboratory study and the heuristic evaluation in details. Overall, the method is able to explore team usability problems of different types of teams, making it a valuable element in existing methods for evaluating the usability of groupware.

Social science and teams: a patient perspective.

Teamwork is fundamental for providing high quality care and providing positive experiences for patients. Concepts from organisational behaviour and social science are integrated with a patient perspective to elucidate how various aspects of teams impact on the patient experience. Particular attention is devoted to the team composition, the interaction and communication patterns among team members, how teams are structured, coordination among team members, facilitating a positive team climate, and considering patients as a member of the team.

Can team communication obscure severe usability problems?

Team communication is a significant topic of study in the psychological literature, but it is a less researched area in relation to software usability. In this article, as part of a larger research project, we investigated team communication to explore the relationship between usability problems and team communication patterns. The research question was examined in two laboratory experiments as part of a collaborative software evaluation process. For sequential analysis of team communication transcripts, we created a custom code system based on previous literature. The results confirm that teams that experience special types of usability problem show different communicational patterns from teams that experience no such problems. The results also show high reliability of the new code system. Further research is needed to explore the relationship between usability problems and team communication patterns in different settings.

Team communication patterns during real and simulated trauma resuscitation—a social network analysis

In trauma teams, coordination can be established through a centralised leader. The team can also use a decentralised strategy. In this descriptive study of video-recorded trauma resuscitations, using quantification of qualitative data, Social Network analysis of all real-time communications of eight in-real-life (IRL) and simulated trauma teams explained team social structure. The communication network structures in the simulated scenarios were more centralised using individually directed speech and had a high proportion of communication to update all team members. Such a structure might be the result of work performed in a complexity-stripped simulation environment where simplified task-executions required less interactions, or from work revolving around a deteriorating patient, imposing high demands on rapid decision-making and taskwork. Communication IRL was mostly decentralised, with more variability between cases, possibly due to unpredictability of the IRL case. The flexibility to act in a decentralised manner potentiates adaptability and seems beneficial in rapidly changing situations. Practitioner summary: Efficient collaboration in trauma teams is essential. Communication in in-real-life and simulated trauma teams was analysed using social network analysis. The simulation teams were overall more centralised compared to the IRL teams. The flexibility to act decentralised seems beneficial for emergency teams as it enables adaptability in unpredictable situations.

Visual mapping of team dynamics and communication patterns on surgical ward rounds a tertiary hospital: What it tells us about Antibiotic stewardship and infection management

Visual mapping of team dynamics and communication patterns on surgical ward rounds a tertiary hospital: What it tells us about Antibiotic stewardship and infection management

Entropy for team communication pattern recognition

This work aims to demonstrate entropy as a method that can be used to analyze team coordination using naturalistic team communication content. Much of team coordination happens through communication; understanding team communication is vital to better formulate and train teams for successful performance outcomes. Several decades of team communication research have led to various methods for analyzing team communication patterns. Many existing methods for team communication analysis have not been tested with naturalistic communication or only consider the frequency or flow of communication. Sliding-window entropy is used to analyze team coordination dynamics with team communication as a proxy. The resulting time series are evaluated using nonlinear dynamical systems analysis and clustering. Various team coordination patterns are identified using communication entropy at the team level. Entropy can be used to identify team communication patterns and their relation to team performance. While team coordination happens at the team level, a posteriori analysis indicates members' individual characteristics affect the overall team coordination patterns. In teams where the contribution is unequal, some members disproportionately affect the overall team coordination, which may undermine the team impact and affect team performance.

Communication patterns in engineering enterprise social networks: an exploratory analysis using short text topic modelling

Abstract Enterprise social network messaging sites are becoming increasingly popular for team communication in engineering and product design. These digital communication platforms capture detailed messages between members of the design team and are an appealing data set for researchers who seek to better understand communication in design. This exploratory study investigates whether we can use enterprise social network messages to model communication patterns throughout the product design process. We apply short text topic modelling (STTM) to a data set comprising 250,000 messages sent by 32 teams enrolled in a 3-month intensive product design course. Many researchers describe the engineering design process as a series of convergent and divergent thinking stages, such as the popular double diamond model, and we use this theory as a case study in this work. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of STTM results reveals several trends, such as it is indeed possible to see evidence of cyclical convergence and divergence of topics in team communication; within the convergence–divergence pattern, strong teams have fewer topics in their topic models than weaker teams; and teams show characteristics of product, project, course, and other themes within each topic. We provide evidence that the analysis of enterprise social networking messages, with advanced topic modelling techniques, can uncover insights into design processes and can identify the communication patterns of successful teams.

Visual mapping of team dynamics and communication patterns on surgical ward rounds: an ethnographic study

BackgroundThe effect of team dynamics on infection management and antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) behaviours is not well understood. Using innovative visual mapping, alongside traditional qualitative methods, we studied how surgical team...

Analyzing Communication Patterns of Surgical Team Members Based on the Surgical Safety Checklist in the Operation Room: The Case of 2018

Background: One of the most fundamental causes of medical errors is the lack of proper communication between the members of the treatment team. The World Health Organization (WHO) has introduced the surgical safety checklist (SSC) for surgical safety to provide a safe environment for patients undergoing surgery, improve communication between surgical team members, and prevent potential medical errors. Objectives: This study evaluated the communication patterns of surgical teams in order to examine the ways to implement various guidelines of the SSC. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, a trained researcher attended 48 operations from late September to late November 2018. The observer recorded qualitatively the communication behaviors of the surgical team in implementing various items of the SSC. The observations were subsequently examined in two general categories of verbal and non-verbal communications. The surgical procedures were observed at three stages: patient’s admission until entry to the operating room, entry to the operating room until anesthesia induction, and anesthesia induction until patient’s transfer from the operating room. Results: In this study, 31 individuals took part in 48 different surgical teams. Observing the communication patterns revealed the lower frequency of verbal communication (13.27%) than that of non-verbal communication (32.12%). The most frequent failure in verbal communication occurred at the anesthesia induction stage (48.57%) and it was related to operating room equipment (6 out of 35 cases of failure). By contrast, the least frequent failure in verbal communication was associated with patient’s admission until entry to the operating room (17.14%). Conclusions: Various cases of communication failure were seen among surgical team members. It is proposed that appropriate training programs be devised to establish a successful communication environment for the correct use of SSC and further clarification of communication patterns in surgical procedures.

The Influence of Spatial Design on Team Communication in Hospital Emergency Departments.

To identify spatial design factors that influence informal interprofessional team-based communication within hospital emergency departments (EDs). Effective team communication in EDs is critical for interprofessional collaborative care and prevention of serious errors due to miscommunication. Limited evidence exists about how informal communication in EDs is shaped by the physical workspace and how workplace design principles can improve the quality of ED team communication. Two health services with four hospital sites in Victoria, Australia, participated. A multistage mixed-methods approach used (1) an anonymous online communication network survey ( N = 103) to collect data on patterns and locations of informal interprofessional team communication among ED staff, (2) focus groups ( N = 37) and interviews ( N = 3) using photoelicitation to understand the perspectives of ED staff about how spatial design influences team communication, and (3) validity testing of preliminary findings with executives and ED managers at the participating sites. Informal communication with peers and within discipline groups on nonspecific areas of the ED was most common. Three key factors influenced the extent to which ED workspaces facilitated informal communication: (1) staff perceptions of privacy, (2) staff perceptions of safety, and (3) staff perceptions of connectedness to ED activity. Our research supports the proposition that ED physical environments influence informal team communication patterns. To facilitate effective team communication, ED workspace spatial designs need to provide visibility and connectedness, support and capture "case talk," enable privacy for "comfort talk," and optimize proximity to patients without compromising safety.

'If I could just chime in here': ”: Communication Patterns of Interprofessional Teams in the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit

Purpose: To describe the communication of interdisciplinary teams in a pediatric cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) when developing care plans and preparing for family meetings because little is known about how interdisciplinary teams communicate with each other about care plan development in the CICU. Methods: Audio recordings were made of weekly CICU team meetings including representatives from all interdisciplinary care providers prior to meeting with a patient’s family. Quantitative case coding described percentage …

'If I could just chime in here': ”: Communication Patterns of Interprofessional Teams in the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit

'If I could just chime in here': ”: Communication Patterns of Interprofessional Teams in the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit

Facilitating Innovation in Interdisciplinary Teams: The Role of Leaders and Integrative Communication

Aim/Purpose: The complexity of scientific problems has spurred the development of transdisciplinary science, in which experts are brought together to collaborate across disciplinary and practice boundaries. These knowledge diverse teams can produce novel solutions, but they often fail to achieve their potential. Background: Leaders have a crucial role to play in enabling effective collaboration among these diverse experts. We propose that a critical predictor of whether a newly formed interdisciplinary team will perform well is the leader’s multidisciplinary breadth of experience, which we define as a leader’s possession of significant experience in multiple areas of research and practice. We suggest that these leaders will have the capability to skillfully manage the interactions within the team. Methodology: We test our prediction in a sample of 52 newly formed interdisciplinary medical research teams. We also observe and examine the communication patterns in a subset of these teams. Contribution: There is a lack of systematic study of the impact leaders have on newly formed interdisciplinary science teams whose members have little or no prior collaborative experience with each other, possess specialized knowledge, and have limited overlapping expertise. This study combines quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the effect of leader multidisciplinary experience on team communication patterns and innovation. Findings: Our study finds that teams are more innovative when their leader has a moderate breadth of multidisciplinary expertise. Exploration of team communication patterns suggests that leaders with moderate multidisciplinary breadth of experience actively stimulated information sharing across expert domains by choosing cross-cutting topics and drew individuals’ attention to the knowledge and approaches of others in the team. Recommendations for Practitioners: Insights from this work can have practical implications regarding how to best select and train leaders to facilitate cross-boundary collaboration in transdisciplinary science. This study elucidates a variety of communication strategies that leaders can to enhance the team innovativeness. Recommendation for Researchers: Further investigation into the underlying psychological states that these communication strategies elicit is needed. Future research should investigate psychological mediators such as knowledge consideration, perspective taking, and cognitive flexibility. Impact on Society: Transdisciplinary science is needed to solve society’s most complex problems. The more insight we gather about factors that can help these knowledge diverse teams to be successful, but more society will benefit. Future Research: More research is needed on team formation, leader experience, and team outcomes in transdisciplinary science teams in a variety of contexts.

Survey of communication and awareness as the most relevant socio‐technical aspects of requirements‐driven collaboration among software development teams

Requirements engineering is a social process and while working together, stakeholders develop socio-technical relationships. Socio-technical aspects such as communication (information exchange among members) and awareness (knowledge of others) were discussed in literature, but little is known with respect to their role in requirements engineering activities. Therefore, requirements-driven collaboration (RDC), particularly on the relevance of socio-technical aspects, warrants further investigation. The authors aim to fill this gap by conducting a systematic literature review on these two aspects. This review covers planning (defining objectives and search strategy), execution (study search and selection), and interpretation of the findings (results and discussions). Findings revealed more studies on communication than on awareness. Two aspects of communication covered for RDC in literature are: (i) preferred communication medium, and (ii) communication patterns of teams. However, for awareness the aspects affecting awareness and vice versa were studied for RDC. Further investigation indicated the interdependence of awareness and communication and that distance does not affect team's awareness. The authors discuss implications for software practitioners in terms of enhancing their performance by considering the role of information brokers, and identifying central and emergent members etc. Researchers can strengthen the domain by providing more empirical results on interdependence of socio-technical aspects.

Can teamwork and situational awareness (SA) in ED resuscitations be improved with a technological cognitive aid? Design and a pilot study of a team situation display

Effective teamwork in ED resuscitations, including information sharing and situational awareness, could be degraded. Technological cognitive aids can facilitate effective teamwork. Objective: This study focused on the design of an ED situation display and pilot test its influence on teamwork and situational awareness during simulated resuscitation scenarios. Material and methods: The display design consisted of a central area showing the critical dynamic parameters of the interventions with an events time-line below it. Static information was placed at the sides of the display. We pilot tested whether the situation display could lead to higher scores on the Clinical Teamwork Scale (CTS), improved scores on a context-specific Situational Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT) tool, and team communication patterns that reflect teamwork and situational awareness. Results: Resuscitation teamwork, as measured by the CTS, was overall better with the presence of the situation display as compared with no situation display. Team members discussed interventions more with the situation display compared with not having the situation display. Situational awareness was better with the situation display only in the trauma scenario. Discussion: The situation display could be more effective for certain ED team members and in certain cases. Conclusions: Overall, this pilot study implies that a situation display could facilitate better teamwork and team communication in the resuscitation event.

Demonstration of a Method for Real-time Detection of Anomalies in Team Communication

Real-time analysis of team communication data to detect anomalies and/or perturbations in the team environment is an ideal method to improve on teams’ interactions and responses to potential crises. In this paper, we demonstrate a method to detect anomalies through observing communication patterns of neurosurgery teams. We simulated the real-time process by analyzing previously collected communication data to assess the effectiveness of a nonlinear prediction model to detect anomalies. We compared predicted values of communication determinism (a measure of how organized communication patterns are) to previous values in each team’s time series. These deviations formed a separate root mean square error (RMSE) time series, and we examined the magnitudes of the RMSE time series at the points of known perturbations. Additionally, we examined the effect of window size on perturbation detection. We found that our nonlinear prediction model accurately detected the perturbations and shows promise for future real-time analysis.

Team communication patterns in emergency resuscitation: a mixed methods qualitative analysis

BackgroundIn order to enhance patient safety during resuscitation of critically ill patients, we need to optimize team communication and enhance team situational awareness but little is known about resuscitation team communication patterns. The objective of this study is to understand how teams communicate during resuscitation; specifically to assess for a shared mental model (organized understanding of a team’s relationships) and information needs.MethodsWe triangulated 3 methods to evaluate resuscitation team communication at a tertiary care academic trauma center: (1) interviews; (2) simulated resuscitation observations; (3) live resuscitation observations. We interviewed 18 resuscitation team members about shared mental models, roles and goals of team members and procedural expectations. We observed 30 simulated resuscitation video recordings and documented the timing, source and destination of communication and the information category. We observed 12 live resuscitations in the emergency department and recorded baseline characteristics of the type of resuscitations, nature of teams present and type and content of information exchanges. The data were analyzed using a qualitative communication analysis method.ResultsWe found that resuscitation team members described a shared mental model. Respondents understood the roles and goals of each team member in order to provide rapid, efficient and life-saving care with an overall need for situational awareness. The information flow described in the interviews was reflected during the simulated and live resuscitations with the most responsible physician and charting nurse being central to team communication. We consolidated communicated information into six categories: (1) time; (2) patient status; (3) patient history; (4) interventions; (5) assistance and consultations; 6) team members present.ConclusionsResuscitation team members expressed a shared mental model and prioritized situational awareness. Our findings support a need for cognitive aids to enhance team communication during resuscitations.

Web-of-Communication

The web-of-communication exercise is a fun, highly interactive experiential activity that facilitates learning about team communication patterns. A ball of string is used to visually map the communication pattern that emerges during a team conversation. The exercise helps participants learn how patterns they create reinforce or break down barriers that shape meaning and exert influence on behavior. This exercise requires only a ball of string for each team, is easy to facilitate, takes very little time, energizes participants, and provides substantial learning opportunities. The exercise works with student teams in an organizational behavior course with modules on communication, team development, power and influence, or conflict management. The exercise works well with organizational teams, too.

Requirements for a Proposed Distributed Attention System for Supporting Awareness of Omissions in Healthcare

Noticing errors of omission can be challenging in complex, distributed processes. A prime example is outpatient care, where multiple distributed processes require attention. Teams must pay attention to patients currently in the clinic, to processes happening in the background, and to potential omissions in those processes. Detecting possible omissions may be supported with software, serving as a distributed attention system by guiding the team's attention to important areas. However, to ensure the software supports rather than disrupts attention, proper user requirements must be defined. This paper presents our study to identify high-level user interaction requirements for software planned to support attention to omissions in Chronic Heart Failure treatment. We interviewed outpatient clinic team members to identify information needs for addressing possible omissions, and how notifications should fit with team communication patterns. The findings are discussed in terms of high-level requirements for effective functioning of teams of humans and software agents.